Here we go again

What intrigued me was the $1 charge on a new Metro Card which will be imposed when you buy a new Metro Card instead of refilling an old one. Wonder if it will be effective in limiting the wastage?.

UGHHHHHH! But I will say that I refill my old cards until I can't anymore. I don't mind paying $1 for a new one, either. I'm all for anything that cuts down on waste. But couldn't they give us a break on fare if they are going to start charging for cards?

$1 seems kind of greedy. If they wanted to deter waste, a $0.25 charge would do the same task. I mean, so much more waste happens with grocery store over-bagging and double-bagging even the tiniest purchase, and their incentive for saying you don't want a bag is only $0.05 !

I don't understand why they have to raise rates anyway. The service is not that good. Plus, they claim to have a surplus.

@Everyone what can I say? the MTA knows New Yorkers can't survive without them. We straphangers are helpless in face of the MTA.

@Uptowngirl: It is all a political game. The more power you have the more you want. The MTA knows they have the political power over us, and they flaunt it a lot. I wish the state or city would come down hard on them. Perhaps then they wouldn't think they are so high and mighty.

I think the better question is this: where is this money going? We all know they've had some issues in the past with disappearing funds.

@BroadwayBK we know the answer to that .. pensions and overtime to its employees...its labour costs seem to swallow all its funds..

It just seems ridiculous that the cost of riding the train rises constantly, but nothing else seems to change.

@BroadwayBK well said

@Everyone street parking rates have also been raised along with subway ride rates the city is out to squeeze us in an effort to balance its budget. http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/?ArID=131565

It's almost cheaper to take a cab for some routes than it is to take the subway! My mother and I were feeling lazy and cabbed it from 59th and 5th to 97th and Madison - it cost us $7, whereas the subway would have required a great deal more walking to and from the 6-train and cost us $5!

@ajadeidealist That's a pretty good point. On some of the big streets you can get up and down pretty quickly, especially in off-peak hours.

@ajadedidealist good point there

@ajadedidealist Wow. I never even thought of it that way, but it's so true! It does help to travel in numbers as well.

@Everyone yet another fraud uncovered at the MTA! this is preposterous especially in the face of the constantly rising fares.. http://www.dnainfo.com/20110106/manhattan/millions-of-straphangers-put-danger-because-of-mta-inspection-fraud-council-says

@uptowngirl Oh man oh man! An dit went on for more than a decade...

What else is new. Every time corruption is found it has to do with the MTA. It isn't so much the workers at fault as it is the supervisors, managers, and higher ups that force the workers to commit fraud. I still say the executives should be fired and replaced with all new executives. Perhaps if Albany and NYC would combine to audit everything the MTA does, they will find a lot of problems within the organization.

@hhusted are the MTA workers unionized?

@Uptowngirl: The union only represents them regarding conditions and salary. The workers are still employees of the MTA and have to abide by the rules of the system.

Aren't all city employees unionized? That's what makes them so hard to get rid of, I thought.

@Uraniumfish: Not all employees of the city unionized. As for protecting their jobs, a good union will do that. But if the employee flagrantly disobeys the rules, he or she won't have that much protection from the union. The union may be able to negotiate a lighter discipline, but that might be all they can do.

Speaking of which, did you guys hear about the two NYC teachers caught having sex in a classroom? It took a couple of years to get them fired.

@Uraniumifsh Didn't hear about it, but I'm assuming they were sent to the rubber room and paid to do nothing for two years?

@BroadwayBK I think Uraniumfish is referring to this story http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/12/09/2009-12-09_teachers_pet__each_other_naked_lust_was_part_of_their_lesson_plan_at_high_school.html

@Uptowngirl and Uraniumfish: I don't quite understand what the big deal is. The two female teachers were in the classroom naked. There was no mention of them having sex or touching each other privately. They didn't cause any harm to anyone, since they were alone in the classroom.

Uh, the big deal is that it's totally inappropriate for any adult to be sans clothing in a place where they are not only responsible for minors, but where said minors could be wandering around.

@hhusted I think the witness who caught them was pretty specific about the extent of their touching, and yes, it is totally inappropriate to not have your clothes on in your workplace, which involves hundreds of minors you are supposedly in charge of!